The degradation of betalains in milk increased with increasing
temperature and time. Degradation of betalains followed first
order kinetics while, changes of L⁄, Hue angle and Chroma values
fitted zero order kinetics. Kinetic parameters (k and t1/2) showed
that betalains from beetroot had moderate stability in milk at processing temperatures. Hence, it was found that L⁄ values was more
stable than Hue angle and Chroma color values in colored milk
during heating. A higher correlation was observed between betalains content and L⁄ and Chroma values in colored milk during
heating. The multiple regression analysis showed that a good prediction for the determination of betalains content might be done
by using color values during heating processing of milk colored
with beetroot extract. Further studies are needed on degradation
kinetics of natural color pigment in several real food systems to
conceive their relationship between color changes and shelf life
of food products during processing and/or storage.